AfterMASH

AfterMASH Podcast
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Personal Journals
  • Updated Biweekly

In elementary school, a silly game called MASH laid out our lives for us, answering society’s most desired questions: who will we marry, what kind of house will we live in, and how many kids will we have? Maybe you were like us, and you survived the suburban-kid-to-college pipeline and graduated thinking you had all the answers. But then you found yourself in your twenties or thirties, having done everything “right”, but somehow nowhere near the future you had envisioned for yourself. Well, we are here to talk about it! Join Jackie and Zoë every other week as we attempt to answer new questions, using the old faithful game of MASH. aftermash.substack.com

  1. 1d ago

    R.I.P AYSO Soccer: Examining America’s Obsession with Exceptionalism

    I have been thinking about this episode for a long time. In 2025, I read Alyson Stoner’s memoir, Semi-Well Adjusted, Despite Literally Everything. Earlier this year, I read Mary Cain's memoir, This is Not About Running. These two beautiful and heartbreaking accounts scratched at the part of my brain that was wired to seek well-roundedness — that need to round out the resume that I have been primed for since I learned of the concept of a resume in seventh grade. Then, The Cut published The Pay-to-Play Model Childhood by Caitlin Moscatello. And I realized, that part of my brain is not focused on being well rounded (well not entirely), it’s worrying about being exceptional. This phenomenon is defined, and exemplified, by Alyson Stoner being described as “high-functioning”, and its pitfalls are characterized by Mary Cain’s journey with sport. I was never truly exceptional at anything. I was busy every day, “well-rounded” you may say, but I never made the travel soccer team or the dance team and couldn’t compete in the show ring to my full potential because show-jumping is expensive. But despite seeing myself as truly mediocre - on a good day a scootch above average - the truth is, I am succeeding. My husband and I are well settled into suburban life. We have stable careers, and I am a doctor — only 4/10 applicants get accepted to medical school. A Boston-Qualifying marathon time is out of reach, but a sub-one-hour-forty half marathon is within reach. And soon, I will have my own horse and will be able to participate in the sport however I chose. Going into this conversation with Jackie, it didn’t occur to me that my commitment to filling out my resume was actually an ingrained pursuit of exceptionalism. But the reality is that my life has always been on the right-side of the bell-curve. If I'm comparing myself, I’m always comparing myself upwards. This is because I grew up in a move-there-for-the-school-district suburb, where the competition was fierce despite the children already being set up well to succeed in life just by participating. So, when we’re pushing our kids to “be the best at the sport”, the reality is by virtue of who you are socioeconomically speaking, 90% of the work has been done before the kid has to take a single step onto the field. As such, and as an independent statement, pushing children to be the best is a futile pursuit. And even if we could define and agree on which singular human is “the Best”, the likelihood of your child becoming that singular best person is infinitesimally small; there will always be someone better. And so we’re leaving our kids set up for failure, confused and defeated. They’re funneled into a singular sport at the age of 6 (objectively too young to be specialized) that they don’t even know if they like better than anything else, but they’re stuck in the car for 10hrs a week traveling for a sport that their parents already dropped $7K on this year. At some point, they will get injured, or they won’t get recruited to play in college, or their college career will end with no prospects to go pro, and they’ll look back at all that sacrifice, and wonder what for and who the f*** am I and what do I do now??? In the other direction, just look at Taylor Swift suing young Olivia Rodrigo, getting married with 1000 of her closest celebrity friends, and getting the “inaugural Artist Director Honors” at the September 2026 MTV Video Music Awards. Fame has been her singular pursuit and she has been obsessed and stunted by it. It is a salient example of the flip side — so what if your child DOES become The Best? Is that actually a good thing? I’m so excited about this episode. It achieves my goal of finding a relevant conversation happening in media (albeit a little late as we can’t podcast real time) and tying it into our Great American Indoctrination, and bringing in other related media to fill out the conversation - we also discuss this article on no-future parenting by Hannah May to humbly turn this conversation on its head. Let us know your experience with sport and/or exceptionalism. Or, how you try to strike the balance as a parent! Zoë PS: you can buy us a coffee here: https://buymeacoffee.com/aftermashpod Get full access to AfterMASH at aftermash.substack.com/subscribe

  2. Sep 29

    How to Find Strength: a conversation with Emily Socolinsky, owner of Fivex3 Training

    Dancer turned powerlifter, Emily Socolinsky, joins Jackie and Zoe to discuss her incredible career. Her story is at once very relatable and also incredibly powerful. In this episode, Emily talks about her young adulthood as a dancer and teacher, her back spasms and years of pain and how frustrating it was to not know what to do about it, how she found strength and started the gym, and what running it during Covid was like. She also tells us the story of her sister’s cancer diagnosis and eventual passing, and how that shaped her relationship to community, charity, and life. She ends with advice for anyone looking to get started with strength training, no matter their age or current strength status.Full show notes available on our substack, https://aftermash.substack.com/ If you want to learn more about Emily, check out her website www.fivex3.com. She offers online and in-person coaching, and is generally a wealth of knowledge about all things strength and aging! You can find her at: Her website, fivex3.com Her Youtube channel Instagram @fivex3 Her podcast Fivex3 Radio, wherever you get your podcasts! The style of lifting that Emily and I practice is Starting Strength. This is a straightforward program of lifting where you do three of four main lifts per session, 2-3 times a week. To learn more, check out their website startingstrength.com. Also, in this episode Emily mentions a few instagram accounts she personally recommends for anyone wanting to expose themselves to more strong women. Here were her suggestions! Girls Gone Strong @thegirlsgonestrong Molly Galbraith @themollygalbraith Jen Thompson @jenthompson132 Sioux-z Hartwig-Gary @siouxz52kg Bailey Haslam @baileyhaslam_ Get full access to AfterMASH at aftermash.substack.com/subscribe

    How to Find Strength: a conversation with Emily Socolinsky, owner of Fivex3 Training

  3. Sep 15

    Pet Peeves, Hot-Takes, and Aspirations

    It’s been about 9 months on this project, and we’ve made it to episode 15. For this installment of our every-5-episodes joint episode, we talk pet peeves and hot-takes, and to end on a positive note, aspirations. Topics range from pigeons to Taylor Swift, and it gets pretty spicy in there! Do you agree with us? Let us know! Get full access to AfterMASH at aftermash.substack.com/subscribe

  4. Sep 1

    Hobbyamory, bridal culture, and why Zoe’s wedding almost didn’t happen

    Jackie and I sit down to talk about what has been our most requested episode: weddings. Parting from my typical book report (and hopefully saying goodbye to that format entirely, for my own sanity), we let the capitalism of it be and just chat about weddings. We start with a recently published article from the New York Times, For Some Singles, ‘Hobbyamory’ Has Replaced Hookups by Sadiba Hasan because it is the spider graph of this podcast that leads to weddings in the center. From there, we talk a brief history of the wedding before devolving into our personal takes on weddings. Then, the juiciest story of Zoe’s brief 32 years on this planet - planning her wedding. We think it’s a fun episode, we hope you do to! Zoe & The AfterMash clan. Sources For Some Singles, ‘Hobbyamory’ Has replaced Hookups How Wedding Expectations have Changed in the Past 90 Years An interview with the OG wedding planner Magazines: * The Knot (30th anniversary edition) * BRIDE Get full access to AfterMASH at aftermash.substack.com/subscribe

    Hobbyamory, bridal culture, and why Zoe’s wedding almost didn’t happen

  5. Aug 18

    What's the big deal with GLP-1s?

    If I say “miracle drug” what comes to mind for you? If your head hasn’t been under a rock the last few years, my guess is you will immediately think of GLP-1s, the most popular of which is semaglutide, sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy. According to google search volumes, “Ozempic” first outpaced “Adderall” in early 2023, and has stayed above ever since. (I mention Adderall because it is a widely popular, often off-label, drug intended to treat a health condition predominantly moderated in the brain, similar to Ozempic.) This is in stark contrast to bariatric surgery, the only other approved medical treatment that reliably causes its users to lose as much weight as a GLP-1, which hasn’t budged in popularity over this time. In fact, we can see the trend-behind-the-trend when we look at a few other related search terms: weight loss and fat. One thing that is extremely interesting to me is how, despite Ozempic entering mainstream consciousness around 2023, it took until 2026 for searches for weight loss or fat to start spiking. In fact, searches for weight loss rose nearly 40% between its relatively stable pre-2026 baseline and its new 2026 norm. This, along with some fascinating anecdotes from some friends and some seriously questionable Instagram ads, got me wondering what exactly is the Ozempic Effect? Is it really a Miracle drug, as all of the headlines are claiming? How does it even work in our body? Turns out, the answers to these questions are far stranger, more nuanced, and more interesting than I could have ever anticipated. Tune in to find out! XOXO,Jackie PS - obligatory “tell us what you think!” request, “share with friends!” request, and “we love you, thank you for listening!” comment. But seriously - if you have any thoughts, please let us know! Resource List I once again bit off more than I should have chewed with this topic, hence why the works cited is so long. But hopefully my excessive researching can be your easy guide to learning more! Related podcast episodes * Our previous episode on dating apps, where we introduce the concept of stock buybacks: Why does Dating Suck So Much? * Our previous episode on diamond engagement rings, where we talk about the idea of interpreting people’s decisions in the context they are living in: The Secret History of the Diamond Engagement Ring * While we are at it, I am apparently on a kick of episodes that point out the financial incentives for businesses trying to sell you fixes to our modern society: here’s our previous episode on The Booming Business of Fertility Preservation * The Journal podcast episode that discusses hair loss drugs making people sick: A Quick Fix for Hair Loss Is Making Some Men Sick * Huberman Lab podcast episode with a very thorough overview of hunger, satiety, and GLP-1 science: The Science of Hunger & Medications to Combat Obesity | Dr. Zachary Knight * Diabolical Lies covered “pretty privilege” in a paywalled podcast ep; if you want to explore this topic and are willing to pay, I highly recommend this analysis of why someone would want to lose weight in the first place (and how marketing distorts the picture): How ‘The Botox Psyop’ Broke Our Brains in the Name of Beauty Info about obesity and diabetes * Obesity is measured via BMI, which is calculated as weight (kg) ÷ height (m²). For an average-height woman (5’4”), she is obese (BMI 30+) when she weighs 175lb, and she is severely obese at 233lb (BMI 40+). * Many doctors hold strong negative attitudes towards people with obesity, supporting Zoe’s point that we need to start treating weight like it’s just one medical fact in a suite of facts relevant to someone’s health, and not like it’s the Most Important Fact. To learn more about this stigma, this meta analysis is helpful: Impact of weight bias and stigma on quality of care and outcomes for patients with obesity - PMC * Causes: * (PDF) Altered Hypothalamic functional connectivity in adolescents with severe obesity * Genes and obesity | CDC * Causes of obesity: a review - ScienceDirect * Demographics: * Obesity and Severe Obesity Prevalence in Adults: United States, August 2021–August 2023 * Regional disparities in type 2 diabetes prevalence and associated risk factors in the United States * Health impacts: * Consequences of Obesity - CDC * The important role of comorbidities in the management of obesity - PMC * Obese people often suffer from malnutrition: Malnutrition in Obesity: Is It Possible? About appetite and how GLP-1s relate: * Can GLP-1 Be a Target for Reward System Related Disorders? A Qualitative Synthesis and Systematic Review Analysis of Studies on Palatable Food, Drugs of Abuse, and Alcohol - PMC Info about weight loss * Long-term weight loss maintenance, article in AJCN * Weight Maintenance after Dietary Weight Loss: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Effectiveness of Behavioural Intensive Intervention About GLP-1 drugs (how they work in the body and mind) * Five things to know about GLP-1s and addiction by Stanford Medicine * Ozempic Quiets Food Noise in the Brain—But How? | Scientific American * Psychiatric effects of GLP‐1 receptor agonists: A systematic review of emerging evidence - PMC * Side effects: Semaglutide: Double-edged Sword with Risks and Benefits - PMC * A new era of weight loss: Mental health effects of GLP-1 drugs * The STEP 1 trial for semaglutide, which is the source of the 15% body weight loss stat: Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity | New England Journal of Medicine * Performing strength activities in addition to being on a GLP-1 reduces the muscle and bone loss: Bone Health After Exercise Alone, GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Treatment, or Combination Treatment: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial * Hubermann Lab podcast episode with a very thorough overview of hunger, satiety, and GLP-1 science: The Science of Hunger & Medications to Combat Obesity | Dr. Zachary Knight Demographics of users and and cost info about GLP-1s * New Weight Loss Drugs: GLP-1 Agonist Use and Side Effects in the United States | RAND * Poll: 1 in 8 Adults Say They Are Currently Taking a GLP-1 Drug for Weight Loss, Diabetes or Another Condition, Even as Half Say the Drugs Are Difficult to Afford | KFF * Costly GLP-1 Drugs are Rarely Covered for Weight Loss by Marketplace Plans | KFF * The GLP-1 Access Gap: Mapping Who Can Actually Afford America’s Miracle Weight-Loss Drugs | The Health Management Academy * Related: demographic data for depression prevalence and treatment Disparity in Depression Treatment among Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations in the United States - PMC The insane $ that GLP-1 manufacturers are making (and spending) * The Heavy Price of GLP-1 Drugs: How Financialization Drives Pharmaceutical Patent Abuse and Health Inequities for GLP-1 Therapies * Novo’s Wegovy and Ozempic US advertising spend doubles rival Eli Lilly, data shows | Reuters * Novo Nordisk sues Eli Lilly, alleging misleading GLP-1 advertising Should health insurers cover GLP-1s? * Fiscal Impact of Expanded Medicare Coverage for GLP-1 Receptor Agonists to Treat Obesity - PMC: This is the article that claims Medicare coverage for GLP-1 drugs would net increase $47.7 billion in spending over 10 years. * A Value-Based Price for Anti-Obesity Medications - July 17, 2025 - USC Schaeffer: This is the article that claims that Medicare coverage would save $245 billion over 10 years if they covered GLP-1s What happens when you stop taking GLP-1s? * Does Stopping Ozempic Cause Rebound Weight Gain and Health Problems? | Scientific American * Related: how to wean off of antidepressants: Discontinuation of antidepressants after remission with antidepressant medication in major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis - PMC Get full access to AfterMASH at aftermash.substack.com/subscribe

    What's the big deal with GLP-1s?

  6. Aug 4

    Talking MASH with FluentlyForward’s Shannon McNamara

    I started listening to podcasts in 2018. I remember the first podcast I devoured was Real Talk Radio. At some time around 2020, I found pop culture. Among the roll-call of podcasters was Shannon McNamara of FluentlyForward. So it is a DREAM to get to interview her here, and she is as lovely as she seems on her socials. In this conversation, we take it from the beginning to the end: her upbringing, the midlife crisis of Shannon’s twenties that brought us FluentlyForward, and what her life looks like now. At the end, we even talk a bit of pop culture. And of course, her advice to her twenty-year old self - it’s a good one! Apologies in advance for the technical difficulties I experienced, but Jackie and Shannon really hit it off - it was fun listening to what I missed while my internet wasn't working. Also, I said that Billie Eillish’s mom was on Armchair Expert, it was actually the other white-male-podcaster-with-all-the-answers, Rich Roll, and you can listen here if you’re curious. You can find Shannon at @FluentlyForward on socials and wherever podcasts are streamed. She will take your mind on a twisty journey and you’ll be a better person for it! - Zoe PS:Full show notes on our website: https://aftermash.substack.com/Like what you hear? Share the episode with friends or buy us a coffee! Get full access to AfterMASH at aftermash.substack.com/subscribe

    Talking MASH with FluentlyForward’s Shannon McNamara

  7. Jul 21

    Stress, Burnout, and Learning to Listen to Your Body

    Nothing like pulling out a handful of hair in the shower to wake you up to the fact that you've been effing stressed lately. Oops. The bad news: my hair is now 20% less voluminous than it was before. The good news: we got excellent fodder for a deep dive into a topic that I believe we will all benefit from learning more about. Thank you for your sacrifice, 20% of my hair. In this episode, we discuss: - Defining some terms: wouldn’t be a Jackie episode if we didn’t get real technical about the differences between burnout, stress, allostatic (over)load, and the (para)sympathetic nervous system. - Talking about the impact of chronic stress on the body: what is chronic stress and how does it show up? - Discussing why we have to deal with chronic stress: what happens in our modern society that lead to lots of stress and not a lot of stress relief? - And, lastly, if you are someone experiencing a lot of stress, what can you do about it? If you or someone you know suffers from any of the following, you should definitely give it a listen! - Trouble falling or staying asleep (including 3am wakeups)- Hair loss at a greater rate than normal- More frequent sickness- A recent increase in tummy fat you can’t seem to kick- Shoulder / neck tightness or jaw clenching- Recurring migraines- Irregular periods- Upset stomach, diarrhea (*in the tune of the pepto bismol commercial from our youth*)Full show notes on our substack!xoxo Jackie Get full access to AfterMASH at aftermash.substack.com/subscribe

  8. Jul 7

    Cootie Catching with AfterMASH: Get to know us!

    If you have been following our podcast since we started, you may think you already have a good sense of who we are, your two intrepid hosts. Here are some of the things you may have gathered from our previous episodes: * Zoe is a doctor, lives in the suburbs, is married, owns a house, has a dog and suddenly not one but TWO cats, and wants nothing more in the world than to one day add a horse to the menagerie. * Jackie is a data analyst, lives in the city, is not yet married, rents an apartment, has no pets, and hates diamond engagement rings (but will not judge you if you have a diamond engagement ring). But do you know Jackie’s four rules to living a good life? Do you know why Zoe went from definitely NEVER wanting to be a doctor to ultimately deciding why it was the right career for her? What did Jackie learn from her previous failed relationships and how has that shaped her dating life? Why did Zoe change her mind on wanting kids? After this episode, you should walk away with a much better understanding of who we are, why we feel the way we do, and what were some of the lessons or bumps on the road that got us to where we are today. And, as a bonus, for anyone who was inspired and wants to make your own cootie catcher, here’s a set of simple instructions for how to fold! We had an absurd amount of fun revisiting this staple of our childhood and we promise you will too. Share your cootie catchers with us in the comments! Get full access to AfterMASH at aftermash.substack.com/subscribe

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About

In elementary school, a silly game called MASH laid out our lives for us, answering society’s most desired questions: who will we marry, what kind of house will we live in, and how many kids will we have? Maybe you were like us, and you survived the suburban-kid-to-college pipeline and graduated thinking you had all the answers. But then you found yourself in your twenties or thirties, having done everything “right”, but somehow nowhere near the future you had envisioned for yourself. Well, we are here to talk about it! Join Jackie and Zoë every other week as we attempt to answer new questions, using the old faithful game of MASH. aftermash.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    AfterMASH Podcast
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    19
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © AfterMASH Pod
  • Show Website
    AfterMASH